About Dave does Data

For nearly 2 decades, David Lean has been working at Microsoft, in roles like Consultant Lecturer, Principal Technology Specialist & Data Platform Advisor. Throughout that time SQL Server has been a core focus area. He is part of a SQL Insiders group, they are the "Voice of the customer" that works closely with senior management in the Engineering & Marketing teams of SQL, BI & Office helping to plan future products & offerings. Day to day finds him helping customers & partners with troubleshooting, performance tuning, & discussing architecture. And with software developers (ISV's) helping them design their apps to take full advantage of our platform. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

Prior to Microsoft David spent 6 years as a Systems Engineer installing & tuning Mainframe Systems (MVS and Unix). <o:p></o:p>

Disclaimer: Be safe to say that I'm not the smartest guy in Microsoft. Many of my ideas are derived from conversations with others. If you feel that I've ripped off your idea, please let me know I'm happy to give you credit for it. My goal is to leverage myself & to get knowledge out there. If you want to use my ideas. Go for it. I don't need credit, (Unless you are merely a profit-making undertaking reselling this content as your own) I'd love your thoughts, comments, suggestions on anything. My web skills are limited at present, so any tips there are also welcome.<o:p></o:p>

Frequently I see production code, created by professional development teams, peppered with NOLOCK & other TSQL Hints. While totally understandable, as it is a common recommendation by many internet posts & often found in their sample code, this...

This "How to" guide provides ideas & code samples on using color to improve your users understanding of the data in your reports. It includes using gradients of color in your tables & charts. It also covers using color to represent a...

This post covers the following methods: STDisjoint, STIntersects , Filter, STTouches , STWithin , STContains , STOverlaps , STCrosses, STRelate, & STEquals One day these examples may find their way to Books Online. For now they can...

Part 4 of 4: Continuous Color functions for Multi-Dimensional analysis (in charts) This "How to" guide provides ideas & code samples on using color to improve your users understanding of the data in your reports. It includes using gradients of color...

This post is a pointer to a lot of in-depth training on SQL 2008. It includes Virtual PC’s with Demo Scripts, Lab Exercises & a lot of PowerPoint's with notes. To get access to it all click here SQL Server 2008 Training . It is free but you do need...

This post covers how to get started with SQL Spatial methods & the best way to test things for yourself. One of the goals in this series of articles is to give you code you can cut, paste & try. I hope you find this handy. Overview Visual Studio...

This "How to" guide provides ideas & code samples on using color to improve your users understanding of the data in your reports. It includes using gradients of color in your tables & charts. It also covers using color to represent a...

If you are a Student, Teacher or anyone on a budget, don’t feel pushed to use Open Source databases like MySQL just because they have an entry level offering for free. You may be one of many who expressed concern for its quality & design which suffered...

Even though its been available for more than 6 months, many people have overlooked this little gem. Those that are using it get terribly excited when they discover how easy it is to use the features & capability it offers. So if you need very powerful...

This post covers the SqlGeographyBuilder & SqlGeometryBuilder Classes & their methods. Overview of Methods to make your own Spatial Objects using the Builder API. SQL provides a Builder API that permit you to easily write your own Spatial Data...

This post covers all the Methods to enter data in WKT, WKB & XML(GML) as well as functions to view the in Human Readable form. It also covers MakeValid, STIsValid & STSrid. Summary of Methods to convert Geometric Formats The following table...

This post covers the following methods: STArea, STLength, STDistance, STIsEmpty, STIsClosed, STIsSimple, STIsRing. Overview of Handy but obvious Methods The following methods are self evident. I’ve included here for the sake of completeness. You...

Adding spatial capability to your app might be simpler than you think. This is not a comprehensive coverage on architecture, but rather just a few ideas to stimulate your thinking. Overview In an N-Tier environment you have one of 3 options :- All spatial...

This "How to" guide provides ideas & code samples on using color to improve your users understanding of the data in your reports. It includes using gradients of color in your tables & charts. It also covers using color to represent a second dimension...

This post lists ways to get spatial maps, some of them are Free. If you are in a hurry jump to the last link, it is so cool. Then check out the Free Map sites. Overview There are 3 ways to get the spatial data for your application:- Buy it Download it...

I was asked why my previous post suggested to “not use an Identity Column as a Key for Many to Many Join Tables”. This post outlines some of the pitfalls I’ve seen. UPDATED: 17 May 09: To clarify a question about how to do this with higher normal forms...

It is extremely common to use computer generated Primary Keys in a table. eg: OrderID INT PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED IDENTITY ( 1 , 1 ) NOT NULL
Most people set the seed to 1. I don’t know why. Perhaps because it is the default value, maybe they...

If I had a month free I’d like to do a brain dump on how to Load Test, Bulk Up data, find problem queries, refactor them with confidence etc. Then deliver it in one comprehensive guide. But that is unlikely, so I’ve decided to deliver little bits...

The internet is swimming with examples of really inefficient TSQL code. Just because everyone does it that way doesn’t make it optimal. I’ve already blogged about the issues you will find with NOLOCK hints , this post show that using system functions...

Recently I tore my hair out trying to create a great end-user experience for my Excel 2010 users when they access SharePoint. Eventually I found a way to get it to work. This is not a perfect post. I’m far from an expert in SharePoint & I’m...

Recently I was developing a SQL Server Analysis Server cube using Oracle as a data source. Weirdly the the development environment (BI Dev Studio) could see the Oracle schema & let me explore the data. But when I tried to process the cube or...

Have you ever written a TSQL SELECT statement that builds INSERT Statements so you can script the entire table? Usually we do it to make it simple to create & load a “Reference or Lookup” table? Sure, Most DBA’s have. This Waay Cool little feature...

I’m unsure if this is a BUG or “By Design” but for me it is unexpected & likely to cause your application to hang if you aren’t aware of it. So one more article in my “TSQL Best Practise” or “Good TSQL Coding Standards” posts. Summary: If you assign...

SQL Management Studio has a very nice Scripting feature that generates scripts to DROP & CREATE your stored procedures, tables & other objects. This is handy, but not good for production systems. Most people use it, … to their peril. This post...

It is common to hear students & small start-up businesses state “I use Open Source because it is free” or they download pirate Microsoft from really dodgy, spyware prone sites to get it free. The irony is that many of these people qualify to get the...